Illegal drugs, babysitting don't mix

January 11, 2018News Extra

A Butler man faces endangerment and other charges for riding in a car with a small child on his lap and a pants pocket full of drug contraband including syringes, crack pipes and suspected heroin and crack cocaine.

State police said they performed a traffic stop about 1 p.m. Jan. 3, after they saw the backseat passenger, 31-year-old Steven A. Cline, holding the child in a vehicle traveling on North Washington Street in Butler.

The child, police said, is Cline's nephew.

Troopers found Cline with two empty insulin syringes and two crack pipes in his front jeans pocket, according to a police affidavit.

The pocket also contained a baggie of suspected crack cocaine, 10 stamp bags of suspected heroin, an empty insulin bag and a Q-tip.

Since the boy was on Cline's lap, according to court documents, he was “directly on top of the drugs and drug paraphernalia.”

The child had no reported injuries.

Police on Monday charged Cline by summons with misdemeanor counts of endangering the welfare of a child and possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia.